GREAT EPIDEMICS ASIATIC CHOLERA. 391 



the government of the shah. A high council of health has 

 been instituted ; the chief physicians of Persia have been 

 invited to seats in this council. They have considered the 

 most important questions of public and private hygiene." 

 Let us add that the Persian Government has determined, 

 on Tholozan's suggestion, to order the breaking off of all in- 

 tercourse, and the prevention of pilgrimages in case the in- 

 vasion of cholera into neighboring countries is ascertained. 

 In short, the situation is greatly improved as regards the 

 internal hygiene of Persia, and it grows better every day, 

 which is a great point gained. But a new question is now 

 presented : how can the cholera be prevented from passing 

 out of Asia into Europe ? This is one of the gravest diffi- 

 culties of sanitary police and international hygiene. Let 

 us consider what has been done to solve it, and what degree 

 of success, or rather what hope of succeeding at all, has 

 been gained. 



The cholera passes from Asia to Europe by land and by 

 sea, that is, by the frontier between Russia and Persia, and 

 by the Caspian Sea. It may also come across the Mediter- 

 ranean, either from Asia Minor or from Egypt, and conse- 

 quently there is occasion to prevent its introduction into 

 those two countries by the boundary-lines separating them, 

 whether from Persia or from Arabia. This simple geo- 

 graphical route shows the range and complication of the 

 system it is proposed to establish. All European govern- 

 ments have shown active diligence in organizing the plan 

 of protective measures and preparing the working of those 

 sanitary arrangements suggested by the members of the 

 Conference, that is, the quarantine service. It would be too 

 soon to decide in a positive way as to the efficiency of quar- 

 antines ; but it is as well to say that quite a number of com- 

 petent physicians absolutely deny it, and that such an 

 opinion is unfortunately too well supported by facts. 



Proust, who has examined carefully the boundary be- 



